Apeman dash cam
Dash cams are now an essential piece of motoring equipment, with insurance providers offering reasonable discounts on annual premiums (our was reduced by £30 a year) and the Apeman dash cam really does pay for itself.
We have been looking at trying differing dash cams, some ugly, big lumps of black intrusive tech, some so difficult to use a IT guru would need to be employed to set it up but then we stumbled across Apeman dash cams.
The Apeman C470 dash cam had an impressive array of features, those being “APEMAN 1080P FHD Mini in car dash cam camera DVR driving video recorder with Sony IMX323 Sensor super night vision, 650nm kens, WDR, G-Sensor, Parking monitor, motion detection and loop recording”
After we had used it for a bit we were so impressed by the size, the look and ease of use we knew we had to write a review.
We got ours through Amazon – https://amzn.to/2JpgXQd with a price of only £39.99.
Delivery and installation of an Apeman dash cam
Ordering through Amazon on Prime meant we got ours the next day and were able to install it and try it out without delay. Being delivered in a small enough box, we knew the contents of the box were going to be just as small.
Opening the Apeman box and pulling out a small, stunning looking dash cam was a brilliant surprise. The shape and angles of the device meant that it actually looked like someone had spent some time on designing the thing, rather than stuffing a camera into a black box.
We did consider if having such a small unit would make it difficult to use but we quickly put that thought to rest. The back screen although small, it has plenty of room for all the functions and set up menus required to get it up and running.
We reasoned that even in a larger dash cam, if there were a need to review any footage it would mean removing the SD card from the device and watching it on a laptop or similar device. So we were not worried about the review function too much, but it worked and although details were difficult it could be done.
The charging cable supplied was more than long enough to route around the head lining of the car, across the dash and into a central charging point in central console. We also liked the fact that they had thought to add a USB charger socket in the back of their own socket so it does not take up a phone charging spot, it adds another one.
Getting it in the car.
The box had everything we needed (except an SD card, again we had some spare just laying around so was not a big expense for us but we found these for less than a tenner on Amazon! – https://amzn.to/2JqP8ag). Sliding the card into the device, using the settings to format the card meant we were good to go in seconds.
We opted to us the suction cup approach as we did not want to have the windscreen to have a permanent mount attached with the supplied 3M pad. It was fitted within seconds and being lazy, we dropped the cable straight down to the charger to make sure everything worked and we were happy with it.
Once it was in, the position and size meant it was completely blocked from the drivers view behind the rear view mirror. Its sleek and stylish lines looked like it actually belonged in our car.
Switching it on, the menu functions took all of 2 minutes to work out. Pushing the menu button twice got us from the control to the set up menus and setting the date and time stamp was easy and quick to do.
Once the set up was complete a quick wipe of fingerprints from the lens and screen meant it was reattached and recording images straight away.
Driving with the device
Once it was set up, we started to test out the functions and features. Driving around and reviewing the footage afterwards we were more than happy with the quality of the footage. Now we are aware that more expensive dash cams have GPS co-ordinates and even speed indicators, but the information and recording quality with the date time stamp would be more than enough if anything were to happen (don’t want to jinx anyone by saying the ‘A’ word!).
The playback was easy, removing the SD card from the side and popping it into the laptop meant the footage was accessible as a video file and played straight away on our Windows media player. The footage was easy to identify, dates and times stamps allowed us to go straight to any point and play a minute of footage.
The best bit is once the Apeman was fitted it has a loop recorder, meaning that the device records and when it runs out of memory it records over the oldest footage making sure that the dash cam will be constantly recording. Of course the size of the SD card and image resolution will dictate how long it will last but ours, has a 32gb card and with the standard settings means we get around 7 days of footage.
The geeky dash cam details
Now the sales pitch, we went through loads of them but the Apeman dash cam seemed to all the stuff we were looking for in a dash cam.
Apeman C470 Dash Cam
High Resolution & Super Night Version
Maximum support FHD 1080P (1920 x1080) Video, also comes with options of 720P (1280 X 720), WVGA (848 X 480), VGA (640 X 480);
Maximum support 12M (403 X 3024) picture, also comes with options of 10M / 8M/ 5M/ 3M/ 2MHD/ VGA/ 1.3M;
SONY IMX323 SENSOR + 650NM, with 6G and F2.0 Lens, high light transmission, super night vision.
Loop Recording
Set loop recording time to 1 minute, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, or off. The newest file will automatically overwrite the oldest one when the SD card is full.
Emergency Locking
With Built-in G-sensor, it will automatically save and record the video if an event happen and been detected by the G-sensor, it can be taken as a proof for solving traffic problems.
Parking Monitoring
With built-in battery, the dash cam will automatically turn on and record 30S after detecting a shocking or vibration under power-off situation, to keep your car under your monitoring in the parking mode.
Motion Detection
Turn on this function, the dash cam will automatically record after starting the engine or detecting a motion, stop recording if not, which can save much power and SD card space.
WDR
With WDR function, turn it on, it will improve the color resolution, brightening the extremely dark area and dimming the extremely bright area, displaying clear driving conditions.
Product Specifications:
View of Angle: 140°wide angle
Format of the video: MOV
Video coding: H.264
Time stamp: Support
Power supply: 5V / 1.5A
USB interface: Mini5Pin USB2.0
Battery: Built-in 130-300MAH3.7V Li-ion battery
SD card: Only supports class 10 (or above), no more than 32GB
Package Contents:
Apeman C470 Dash cam
Mini USB Cable
Suction Mount
3M Sticker Mount
Car Charger
User Manual
Conclusion
With the price, the size and features of this dash cam device we have been really impressed. The night recording feature, the ease of use and styling has put this little device into the top of our dash cam preferences.
The cost of the Apeman dash cam was virtually covered by the savings in car insurance premiums, plus it means we are protected form the scams such as cash for crashes and other dodgy motoring claims practices. We here at Cave HQ have no idea why these devices are not fitted as standard to all cars, but until they are the Apeman Dash cam will have us covered!
